Strahan was a sack master and run extraordinaire

07/26/2014

Class of 2014 enhrinee Michael Strahan was one of the most complete defensive ends in the National Football League history. The dominant pass rusher, who retired after a 15-year career as the league’s fifth all-time sacker with 141.5 quarterback takedowns, was equally adept at stopping the run. His strong play contributed to eight New York Giants defenses that ranked in the top 15 in total yards allowed and nine that were in the top 15 in stopping the run.

Strahan’s best year was perhaps in 2001 when he set the NFL record for most sacks in a season (22.5) and earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors. It was more than just his pass rushing, however, that helped earn the award. He also had 73 combined tackles to go along with seven forced fumbles, one fumble recovery for a TD, and two passes defensed that season.

Being able to play both run and the pass was common place for Strahan. Eleven times throughout his career Strahan logged 50 or more combined tackles in season. His career high was 84 in 2003 when he also had 18.5 sacks (his second highest single-season total). He is also credited with having 84.5 career tackles of running backs behind the line of scrimmage. These kinds of statistics forced many teams to alter their normal game plans to account for Strahan’s disruptive play.

Here is an in-depth breakdown of Strahan’s tackles and defensive play.